


If I Believe You

by Ohhhdis



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Fluff, Hints at polyship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-10
Updated: 2018-03-10
Packaged: 2019-03-29 06:31:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13921368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ohhhdis/pseuds/Ohhhdis
Summary: Stuck indoors on a stormy summer night in Lestallum, Gladio and Noctis pass the time in a powerless, overheated hotel room by sharing a dance.





	If I Believe You

The downpour was rattled against the hotel’s metal roof just over their heads, relentless and almost deafening. The tilt of the panels kept dripping runoff from soaking their balcony, the doors of which Noctis had opened to allow any sort of breeze past. It had been two nights staying in Lestallum with the weather as it was, a thick, warm summer night barely cooled by endless rain. The lush, beautiful landscape of Cleigne’s countryside might have been visible from this floor, but it was flooded now, reflecting the barest hints of lightning as it crackled above the world and encouraged thunder.

Maybe they’d taken their freedom too lightly, complained about the hikes over rocky hills and chasing away wildlife from the local farms. It was understandably disappointing now, to see a landscape they’d taken for granted completely under water, along with most of the streets below in the city, the market stands and restaurants pulled in, windows closed up in wait for the flood to recede and business to go on as usual.

Of course, the water-logged pathways also threw a wrench into an important road trip, being that there was no _road_ to explicitly follow for long before you were driving into a new lake.  

Ignis and Prompto were gone from the room, probably in the hotel’s lobby seeking reprieve from the heat oppressing this cramped space. Even with an open balcony, the storm, and probably general misfortune, had them without electricity. No power, no fans, no lights.

While Gladio felt the need to huff sighs of hot air every hour, on the hour, Noctis had always run cold. He could handle the sun of an open sky in his dad’s car, the close heat of a peaking campfire, because so much of his connection to Lucian magic stole the very warmth of his blood at times. Gladio had watched him from his bed as he casually strolled about the room lighting small candles with a book of matches he’d found in the kitchen, bathing the walls in dim orange glow before he’d set himself down in the chair closest to the balcony to watch the storm pass through.

Candles, in the middle of the hottest season, during a power outage. His hair and skin appeared damp, even with only shorts and a thin shirt on, but he didn’t seem bothered by it. He stared wistfully at something out there, like a content house-cat, and Gladio stared at him.

He probably had something he could read buried in his bag by the door, but then, Gladio didn’t seem to want that kind of distraction right now.

Over and over and over the rain tapped loudly above them, an unpleasant sound with changing volume as the wind picked up and died down again. Surely there was something they could do besides listen to incessant _tapping._ Picking up his phone, Gladio swiped his thumb against the lock screen before tapping away at something. The little ticks of the phone’s keyboard was just different enough of a sound that Noctis glanced his way, resting his cheek in his hand to look over at the bed.

Gladio looked up as quickly from his phone to catch the prince by surprise and his grin widened. “You as bored as I am?”

That earned him a quirked brow, though he hadn’t moved from his curled position leaning on the arm of the chair. “I happen to like quiet sometimes. But...yeah.”

That was permission enough for Gladio to tap once more on his phone’s screen, before he slid it down to the end of the bed and stood himself up.

 _Damn_ , if he wasn’t distracting as hell to look at. He was a tall man for his age, always the ‘presence’ of their group, with thick muscles and a long core, incredibly fit in every way and unafraid to flaunt it, though in this case, Noctis let himself assume that he was probably shirtless for the temperature of the room. His gaze was delayed in following up with Gladio’s as his shield approached slowly, and the latter was certain to have noticed it. From behind him, the phone’s speaker let out a new sound, some simple drum scales and smooth, synthetic waves as warm and heavy as the low light and thick heat around them, slow and burning deep with _mood_.

 

 

 _I've got a God-shaped hole that's infected._  
  
_And I'm petrified of being alone; it's pathetic, I know…_

 

 

One of Gladio’s hands reached out to knock lightly into Noctis’ elbow. “Up.”

“Why?”

“Dance with me.”

Noctis actually laughed, a quick huff of disbelief, though the offer actually managed to get his legs shifting to lay over the arm of his chair.

 

 

 _And I toss and I turn in my bed._  
  
_It's just like I lost my head! (Lost my head...)_

 

 

Though, he wasn’t saying no, was he? And Gladio’s grin didn’t seem to be inviting their usual back-and-forths. He was looking at Noctis like they could be walking through hell-fire in this stupid room, and it wouldn’t be hot enough to keep the two apart. He was still smiling, the charming bastard, with bright spots of candle-light reflecting off his brown eyes.

The lyrics were paused for an extended moment of mellow bars, mild and enticing, and so Noctis took the hand, and Gladio took him up the rest of the way.

 

 

 _And if I believe you?_  
  
_Would that make it stop, if I told you I need you?_  
  
_Is that what you want?_  
  
_And I'm broken and bleeding, and begging for help,_  
  
_and I'm asking you Jesus, show yourself._

 

 

Noctis wasn’t a dancer. It wasn’t for lack of enjoyment, though countless waltz lessons very nearly soured that. He simply wasn’t so coordinated like Ignis might be. Even Gladio, for all the weight he threw around in a fight, had a surprising grace about his capabilities. It had been a long while into their relationship and even longer since their friendship to have any idea that Gladio enjoyed moments of closeness such as this, secret and special, though being with Ignis and Prompto also carried such weight, if not by different means. There were times when Gladio could be so _quiet_ in his affection, Noctis thought. It was a marvel.

 

 

 _I thought I'd met you once or twice,_  
  
_but that was just because the dabs were nice and opening up my mind,_  
  
_showing me consciousness is primary in the universe._  
  
_And I had a revelation:_

 

 

Their two hands slid and clasped together, and the others were embracing each other while they swayed, so slow and careful they might appear to be entirely still. Noctis let his head drop onto Gladio’s chest, and they danced.

 

 

 _I'll be your child if you insist._  
  
_I mean, if it was you that made my body, you probably shouldn't have made me atheist?_

_I'm a lesbian kiss, I'm an evangelist and "If you don't wanna go to hell then, Miss, you better start selling this."_

 

 

Gladio’s hand at the small of his back was a welcome weight, strong and familiar, just as it seemed his own hand lost up in long, long dark locks of hair were. Gladio was a protective, possessive man, though by this delicate touch, it’d be hard for an outsider to guess. Noctis knew he was also fun and serious, imposing yet watchful, and where Ignis was ever at his prince’s right side, Prompto ‘checking his six’, Gladio was the shield at the front. The unbreakable, the stone statue of resolve, and all it took to chip into the syrupy center was a chorus swelling up, just a little, and a choir of velvety voices:

 

 

_And if I believe you?_

_  
Would that make it stop, if I told you I need you?_

_  
Is that what you want?_

_  
And I'm broken and bleeding, and begging for help._

_  
And I'm asking you Jesus, show yourself._

 

 

There was a long quiet but for the song’s muffled flugelhorn, the rain crashing down harder and harder, to no real concern of theirs anymore.

 

 

_If I'm lost, then how can I find myself?_

 

_If I'm lost, then how can I find myself?_

 

_If I'm lost, then how can I find myself?_

 

 

Noctis turned his head, still buried against Gladio’s chest, and smiled up at his dancing partner, who was looking right back at him with rather thoughtful eyes. Glado dipped in low to share a slow, innocent kiss with his prince.

 

 

_If I'm lost now, then how can I find myself?_

 

 

“Maybe you’ve got a few good ideas. Once in a while.” Noctis breathed against him, their lips still very nearly touching. His smile changed just a touch.

 

 

_If I'm lost now, then how can I find myself?_

 

 

“You’re still with me. With everything that’s happened, everything that’s coming...you’re with me, right?” He finally asked, and Gladio tightened his arm’s hold on Noctis’ waist, giving him a soft hum.

“I’ve got you.”

 

 

_If I'm lost, then how can I find myself?_

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> The first in a series of short songfics, inspired by the relationship Noctis shares with each member of his retinue. Originally posted on Tumblr, rehashed and edited to share on here.
> 
> Featured song is 'If I Believe You' by The 1975. Please give it a listen, and enjoy!


End file.
